Taking Down Tobacco

By+Yin+pumin

Among the many things in the world at which China ranks number one， there is none more notorious than the number of smokers within its borders. The number of Chinese smokers totals at 300 million， roughly equivalent to the U.S. population， and one third of the global smoking population. The prevalence of smoking as a habit leaves at least 740 million non-smokers regularly exposed to secondhand smoke and 1.4 million Chinese die from smoking-related diseases every year on the mainland.

With a determination to reduce the number of smokers， the Chinese authorities have begun to require officials around the country to set a good example so as to support its tobaccocontrol campaign.

According to a circular released on December 29 last year by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council， Chinas cabinet， Party and government officials are not allowed to smoke in schools， hospitals， sports venues， on public transport vehicles， or any other public place where smoking is banned.

The circular also bans government functionaries from smoking or offering cigarettes to others at work or during other official activities， including meetings and business dinners.

Other requirements include： The sale of tobacco products and advertisements will no longer be allowed in Party and government offices； and prominent notices announcing smoking bans must be displayed in meeting rooms， reception offices， passageways， cafeterias and rest rooms.

Yang Gonghuan， a professor at Peking Union Medical College and former Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention， believes that the circular is a landmark in the countrys journey toward an effective tobacco-control system.

“The circular can be regarded as a political commitment made by central authorities. Such a vow regarding tobacco control is unprecedented，” Yang said.

An opportunity

According to statistics from the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control， 61 percent of male Party and government officials in the country are habitual smokers， and 52.7 percent of them say that they have never attempted quitting.

In response to the latest smoking ban， an anonymous official from central Chinas Henan Province was quoted by Beijing Times as saying that “the policy should not be implemented hastily，” as exchanging cigarettes has for a long time been considered standard practice among officials.

Despite the skepticism， the National Health and Family Planning Commission has vowed to build a smoke-free social environment with intensified tobacco control advertising and health education that will help raise social awareness about the harm tobacco causes.endprint

On January 1， 2014， Mao Qunan， the commissions spokesman said that health and family planning authorities will coordinate with other government departments to promote legislation for tobacco control.

Li Tong， a county official in southeast Chinas Fujian Province， said that the effect of the circular is already being felt. “It was habit to exchange cigarettes before a meeting began， and meeting rooms used to be full of smoke when officials gathered. But now， top county leaders have taken the lead in putting out cigarettes before entering meeting rooms， and other participants have followed，” Li said.

Similar progress has also been reported in other places.

In Nanchang， central Chinas Jiangxi Province， organizers of the local legislative session， which was held on January 8-12， displayed about 20 posters emphasizing the smoking ban in meeting rooms， lobbies， corridors and rest areas. The posters were put up to remind participants， many of them local officials， not to light up， said Wu Xincai， an official with the Standing Committee of the Nanchang Municipal Peoples Congress， the citys legislature.

Reportedly， leading officials in Pudong New Area of Shanghai signed documents pledging to take the lead in banning cigarettes and have also organized a supervision team including more than 20 average residents， mostly retired， to supervise enforcement of the smoking ban. The supervisors are permitted to report any violation of the ban directly to the head of the Pudong New Area Government.

“Officials at all levels should take the lead in adhering to the smoking ban，” said Wang Kean， Director of the ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development， a Beijing-based antismoking advocacy group， adding that good examples set by officials could help with the overall tobacco control in China.

In 2003， China signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control （FCTC） and it became effective in the country in January 2006. The FCTC requires a reduction in tobacco supply and consumption， as well as a total smoking ban in workplaces， public venues and public transportation by January 2011. But this hasnt happened in China.

To show its determination to press ahead with the issue， in its 12th Five-Year Plan （2011-15）， the Chinese Government promised that smoking in public places will be banned outright by 2015.

However， a report released by ThinkTank in early last December found that the production turnover of cigarettes on the Chinese mainland had increased by nearly 50 percent over the past decade. In 2012 alone， 2.58 trillion cigarettes were produced in China.endprint

Meanwhile， the consumption of tobacco in China rose 41.8 percent in the same period， while global consumption declined around 10 percent.

“China has been doing a poor job at curbing smoking and protecting its people from the‘silent killer，” the ThinkTank report said.

Chinas inability to protect its people from the smoking epidemic has tarnished the countrys image abroad， said Xu Guihua， Deputy Director of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.

A long-term campaign

According to a WHO tobacco control assessment report， China ranks in the bottom 10 percent of all FCTC signatory countries and regions in terms of implementing smoking bans at public places and workplaces.

The country did even worse in its efforts to ban tobacco advertising， promotion and sponsorship， Xu said.

An international survey of six countries found that 86 percent of Chinese children polled could recognize at least one cigarette brand， higher than in Russia， India， Pakistan， Nigeria and Brazil.

Tobacco companies have moved online to get around bans on tobacco product advertising in conventional media such as newspapers and broadcasting， said Wu Yiqun， Deputy Director of the ThinkTank.

Wu cited the website Yanyue.cn， where users can participate in a jigsaw puzzle contest. When the picture is completed， the logo of a tobacco brand appears， she said， adding that winners receive free packs of cigarettes.

According to Yang Jie， Deputy Director of the Tobacco Control Office of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention， such practices are essentially tobacco advertising.

“Regulation over online tobacco advertising remains undefined，” Yang said. He urged lawmakers to recognize the new trends online and close loopholes in current laws and regulations.

Currently， more than 10 Chinese cities have smoking control regulations， all of which ban smoking in public buildings， according to Wang Qingbin， an associate professor at Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law.“But implementation of the rules is unsatisfac- tory， mostly because there is a lack of either enforcement or awareness of them，” he commented.

Another complaint of Wang is that municipallevel rules mainly target businesses such as restaurants， Internet bars， hotels and movie theaters， but do not focus on individual smokers.

In Tianshui， northwest Chinas Gansu Province， when a business applies for a basic hygiene certificate， it is required to sign a guarantee that it will ban smoking indoors. It must also submit a plan to maintain hygiene， including how they will work to control tobacco use， according to Liu Jiong， a local health official.endprint

“Health inspectors have fined some business owners when they failed to maintain the ban， but there are no specifications on how to punish smokers，”Liu said.

Encouragingly， the situation is to hopefully be reversed in the near future.

Chinas health authorities are working on a law that will ban smoking in all indoor public venues while clarifying the punishments for doing so， said Mao with the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

At a press conference on January 8， 2014， Mao revealed that work on a draft of the law began last year and that the commission is working hard to get national lawmakers to issue laws on smoking control with stronger powers than the current regulations have.

According to Mao， regulations banning smoking in public venues are effective in many places but they are vague on the punishments， so a new law that clarifies them is necessary.

“Compared with the damage to health brought on by smoking， the economic benefits brought on by tobacco are trivial，” Mao said. “So we are promoting legislation on smoking control to tackle this.”

Yang with the Peking Union Medical College said that effective smoking control efforts require a broader system involving public supervision， surveillance， assessments， training of law enforcers and awareness campaigns. She recommended the establishment of public hotlines to report offenses， and said that the“response and action of law enforcement to hotline reports should be regularly publicized to help raise public awareness.”endprint